Agreed.
Questions? Mr. Thompson.
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Okay. Any questions to Public Safety, operations expenditure summary? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister just give us a brief update of where we are with the development of 911? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Considering that it is late, I am going to try and do my best, and Ms. Eleanor Young might expand on it. 911, we have worked with the stakeholders. We are now in the process. We have made an arrangement to work with the Med Alert team, so we can co-chair space with that. We are working with municipalities at this time to try to make sure that they have the infrastructure or the means to be able to identify people. Dial plans, I am going to let Ms. Eleanor Young speak on that one. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Ms. Young.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To extend on that, we are working with the stakeholders to create the local dial plans in each community so that we have the structure in place for the dispatch system. We are working on a legislative proposal for the 911 legislation and preparing to go in front of the CRTC later this year with regard to the charge model. As mentioned in the opening comments, all of those pieces, we do anticipate to come in to play where we will be hiring staff later this year and operational by the summer of 2019. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Young. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So when might we expect to see a bill come into the House to implement 911? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think we are all tired at this point. We are preparing to bring the legislative proposal forward this month. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. It's still early, but next, we have Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. That was my next question: when could we expect to see an LP? When would we expect a bill to come into the House? Are we looking at September or October, then? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is correct, subject to process, of course. There may be glitches, depending on presenting it to standing committee and getting the draft done up. If it all follows through, it should be in September or October. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. I am sure we are all going to look forward to getting that bill, and committee will do its work. I understood that the original plan was to partner with the city and run the dispatch response part of the 911 service in collaboration with the city using the fire hall here in Yellowknife. It sounds like the plan has changed. Can the Minister just tell us how and why that change took place? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Originally, when this was proposed, one of the only options was actually the City of Yellowknife. We looked at partnering with them. Sometimes things take more time than I expected at the beginning. When we decided that this was going to go through, we actually did more research, and we found that it was actually not only more cost-effective to partner with the Med Alert team, but it also provides a better service. The City of Yellowknife would have needed infrastructure changes to accommodate it. By providing the service with Med Alert and sharing the services, we can actually give better provision of services to the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank the Minister for that explanation. Is there going to be any involvement with the City of Yellowknife moving forward on 911, other than the city dispatching its emergency services as required by 911? Is there any other engagement or involvement with the city as this rolls out? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, every community will have a piece to play within the 911 rollout. We need all communities to be able to identify what their resources are and to coordinate those with us. The City of Yellowknife also will be hopefully taking part in some of the training that we will provide. Other than that, that is how we see it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. O'Reilly.
I don't have anything further. Thank you.
Thank you. Next, we have Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I think this might be really quick. I see in program management an exclusion of $370,000. Could you explain that reduction? I guess, the 911 program, is that where the money is going and why we have a reduction in the program management area? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Just a reminder to wait until the light is on before you start speaking or it kind of cuts out a bit. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is actually quite cumbersome with the $370,000. We allocated some resources to establish a senior policy analysis that was $15,000. The 911, at the beginning, we estimated that we would need money. Let me just look. Actually, Mr. Chair, this is quite cumbersome. I am going to switch it to Gary Schauerte, if you are okay with that.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. I'm okay with that, Mr. Schauerte.
---Laughter
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The change in figure that has been asked about represents a few different changes that have taken place within the unit.
The first one the Minister referenced was the creation of a senior policy position. We have used internal resources to create that position, largely to address concerns raised through the Office of the Auditor General related to fire protection services. Our response to this is to create a position that is working very closely with community governments on fire protection plans and the implementation of the Fire Protection Strategy for the Northwest Territories.
The creation of this position also allows for the department to look at succession planning for things like our Office of the Fire Marshal, which are obviously critical functions to the department. Ensuring that we have succession planning in that area is vital to our operations.
The majority of the rest of the changes represent changes that we have made subsequent to the business plan related to the 911 program. At the time when we appeared before committee related to the 911 program, we had envisioned the potential to be able to implement in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, including bringing on resource revenue or revenue related to the 911 program. As we continued to investigate the implementation of the 911 program, and as we explained during the business planning process, it became clear that we had to look at a different implementation model.
Subsequent to that time, our department has undertaken that research to complete the implementation model, and we did return to the Financial Management Board to readjust our funding allocation related to the 911 program. The net at the end is that we have given up projected revenues for the 2018-2019, because we won't actually be implementing in 2018-2019. The remainder, in total, is about $606,000 to support the implementation of 911, which is spread amongst a few categories under program detail. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Schauerte. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank Mr. Schauerte for that answer. If I wasn't confused before, I am getting there now. The senior policy position, is that in program management or the 911 program area? I guess that is the way to look at it first. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The senior policy analyst position is actually with the Office of the Fire Marshal, and as Mr. Schauerte said, it is actually to give assistance in bringing forward the Fire Prevention Act and the community fire protection plans that are needed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you. In the Office of the Fire Marshal, we have seen a $15,000 increase. There have been reallocations in that office to get a new position; is that correct?
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we have done reallocations internally to be able to provide that position within our headquarters department at the Office of the Fire Marshal. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Thompson.
I wonder what caused management to lose $370,000. I shouldn't say "lost." We reallocated $370,000 between the Office of the Fire Marshal and the 911 program, to simply things. Is that correct, saying that?
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Cochrane.
Yes, Mr. Chair. As Mr. Schauerte said, we had planned for implementation this current year; it's been pushed back a year. So we actually reallocated that money. So, yes, the MLA is correct. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you. Now, what Mr. Schauerte explained totally makes sense, and I thank the Minister and Mr. Schauerte for answering that. I realize it's getting late, but thank you for being patient with me as we move forward. So I'm done with this section. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Next, we have Mr. Vanthuyne.
